Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 154

Chapter 154

I silently swallowed my saliva as I gazed at Jung Tae-il. 

In his eyes, which still carried the captivating smile he wore during the day, I could see my tension reflected clearly.

Normally, I wouldn’t have even blinked at such a smile…

‘…Why do I keep thinking about the hug from earlier?’

It was probably because of the embrace with Jung Tae-il before coming home. He hadn’t been smiling like this back then… but in my mind, the situation kept overlapping with the present.

For some reason, perhaps due to the hope that the same thing might happen again, I found myself tensing up.

I instinctively avoided his gaze, holding my breath. In response, Jung Tae-il leaned against the nearby wall, scrutinizing me intently.

“…So, care to tell me what you went up there to check? I couldn’t read Mr. Tae-il’s expression.”

“If you could read my expression, it would have been a big problem.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“…Um, Jung Tae-il.”

This isn’t the time for playful banter. It’s not like there’s a matter of life and death at stake right now, but… Is it okay to leave things like this? No, it’s not.

Honestly, when he says such things with that expression of his… I can’t help but be conscious of it.

‘…Let’s calm down.’

After silently pouring out words I couldn’t say to Jung Tae-il, I managed to calm down, or rather, I made an effort to.

I’m not sure if the effort paid off, but I felt a bit less tense.

I exhaled deeply, trying to calm myself. Seeing this, Jung Tae-il chuckled softly and reached out his hand towards me.

“…Why are you suddenly…?”

“I thought it would be better to check for myself.”

“…Is there something up there?”

“Seo Yeon-oh, there might be something you’ll like.”

“…Is it dangerous?”

“Admit it, you like dangerous things, don’t you?”

Hey.

With a talent for leaving me speechless, Jung Tae-il urged me to quickly take his hand.

I looked at him and reluctantly placed my hand on top of his. Then, in an instant, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into his arms, firmly holding my waist with his other arm.

“…Huh?”

I froze at his sudden action. I hadn’t expected a situation like this to happen again so quickly.

…I should have anticipated it from the moment he mentioned going up to the roof.

As I reflected on my mistake, Jung Tae-il whispered in my ear.

“Hold on tight.”

Before I could respond, he leaped high, grabbing onto the window frame with his free hand. With one swift jump, he reached a height higher than the roof, as if he were an S-level agent.

After a moment in mid-air, Jung Tae-il landed on the roof with a light thud.

Thud!

With a light footstep, we safely and swiftly made it onto the roof. Jung Tae-il firmly anchored his legs on the sloped roof before releasing me.

I struggled like a spring trying to bounce out of his embrace, but it was impossible. …His hand that was holding onto my waist had somehow ended up holding my hand as well.

“Um, could you let go of my hand?”

“If you fall, you’ll drop just like that.”

“Am I a child? I won’t get hurt from this height. I’ve gotten stronger, you know? Besides, I can climb up to the roof by myself!”

“…Is that so?”

“Geez. You know I’m the one who knows best how strong I’ve become, Mr. Tae-il.”

He glanced at the hand he was holding for a moment before turning his head and releasing it. I couldn’t tell if it was just my imagination, but Jung Tae-il seemed somewhat disappointed.

Feeling a bit strange, I fidgeted with my hand and stood next to Jung Tae-il, surveying the roof.

“So, what’s on the roof?”

“There.”

He pointed to one end of the roof. My gaze followed his finger.

And… what I saw was unexpected.

“Um, this is…”

“Yeah.”

“…It’s just a nest.”

Although it was quite large, it had the shape of a typical bird’s nest. And inside the nest were feathers with a pale brown hue, nestled within.

Hmm… it seemed like a nest where creatures lived, right?

But why here…? Could it be that a monster had settled on my roof without my knowledge…? That couldn’t be it…

No matter how much I pondered, I couldn’t come up with a valid answer. I grimaced and started to walk towards the nest.

If there hadn’t been a hand holding me back.

“Do you still not get it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That nest. Arvani said you’d know.”

“…Arvani?”

I glanced at Arvani, who was still perched on Jung Tae-il’s head. For some reason, he seemed irritated.

I could tell because his tail was swaying with annoyance, occasionally hitting Jung Tae-il’s head every three seconds.

Even though he was a small dragon, he was still an unranked dragon. No matter how much you pulled or tapped, it would hurt.

I sent Jung Tae-il a questioning look and thought deeply once again.

After a while.

“…Ah! I got it! It’s Boom-ba’s nest!”

It seemed like the nest Boom-ba had built when I first came to this house. Well, Boom-ba had stayed here longer than I thought. With her offspring, she needed a comfortable place to rest.

Initially, she had probably occupied Arvani’s house in the yard… Maybe Arvani had kicked Boom-ba out, claiming his territory.

Thinking about it like this, the cause and effect fit perfectly. With a strange sense of satisfaction, I looked at Jung Tae-il.

“It’s Boom-ba’s nest, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But how did you know it was here? I didn’t even know.”

“…I didn’t know either.”

“…Really?”

Jung Tae-il let out a deep sigh and ruffled his hair roughly. Then he walked to a spot on the roof and stopped.

“Here. I could sense the energy of that Allen or whatever it was from here.”

“…From there?”

He answered with a light nod, but that alone wasn’t enough of an answer, so I sent him a look asking for more explanation.

“…Hah. While waiting for your call in the yard, I felt the energy of that creature strongly. So, I tried to come inside.”

“…And then?”

“…The energy wasn’t just coming from one direction. It was very faint, so I didn’t notice it very well.”

“So, following that weak energy led you to where you’re standing now?”

Once again, Jung Tae-il just nodded lightly. Unlike before, this time his nod was enough of an answer.

As he said, I also felt the faint flow of Allen’s mana. It was so finely and densely woven in the mana realm that it was barely noticeable.

Unless you were a person with extremely sensitive senses, you wouldn’t be able to feel it at all.

And Jung Tae-il, who already had sensitive senses that sharpened through Arvani’s contract, was able to detect it.

‘…I probably wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t told me.’

No, if Tae-il hadn’t made a contract with Arvani, he wouldn’t have known either.

…Is this just a coincidence?

I wondered. Is all of this just a coincidence?

There is always a cause if there is a result.

The world, too, exists through a large chain of cause and effect. So, you could consider coincidences as results stemming from very old causes.

Of course, humans, who live short lives, may not feel it well.

However… for beings that live lives incomparable to humans, perhaps events like this were just what happened.

So, it’s understandable to be curious.

With the abundance of beings around me living for a long time, even small coincidences couldn’t just be overlooked.

What is this for? And for whom is this coincidence?

And how long has it been?

I furrowed my brows and walked over to where Jung Tae-il was standing. Despite coming to where the energy was flowing, I still couldn’t feel it well.

“I should check it out.”

“Yeah.”

As Jung Tae-il stepped back, I bent down to observe the spot. I couldn’t just pass by even a speck of dust stuck to the roof.

I had climbed onto the roof several times before. Yet, I hadn’t noticed anything strange.

…It could be something I’ve already seen or something I never expected.

Let’s examine each one carefully.

Despite squinting my eyes and scanning the surroundings meticulously, I ultimately couldn’t find anything.

“…It must be here.”

It should be here…

As I continued to search the roof, Jung Tae-il sat down next to me and tapped the roof lightly.

“To reveal this.”

“…If it were possible, it would have been done already. Unlike what you see, the roof is all connected.”

“So, we have to cut it off.”

“…What?”

Without hesitation, Jung Tae-il swiftly drew out a dagger and cut the roof. Like slicing tofu…

Before I could utter a word about how I had diligently reinforced it with my own sweat and effort, I noticed something.